Viewing endoscopes permit remote treatment of internal locations within a patient by accessing those locations through a natural body lumen avoiding the need for surgery in some cases. The advantages of using an endoscope to treat internal maladies of the human body has led to the development of various endoscopic accessory treatment devices that can be fastened to the distal end of the endoscope to carry out mechanical manipulation and treatment of internal tissue areas. Examples of such endoscopic accessories include suturing devices, cutting instruments, band ligating devices and forceps, among others. The accessories are securable to various types of endoscopes specifically designed for specific areas of the body and include: laparoscopes, duodenoscopes, colonoscopes, sigmoidoscopes, bronchoscopes, and urethroscopes, among others. In combination with remote viewing capability, endoscopes are frequently configured to provide a working channel through which controls for the scope mounted accessory may be inserted for remote operation.
Although an endoscope carrying a treatment accessory provides remote treatment capability while permitting direct visualization of the treatment site, several shortcomings may arise in the use of the combination. First, the separate accessory may limit viewing capability through the distal end of the endoscope when it is attached so as to extend distally from the distal face of the endoscope. Second, there is always a risk that the accessory will become detached from the endoscope while in the patient, compromising the procedure and presenting problems for safely removing the detached accessory from the patient. Third, with various manufacturers producing endoscopes and accessories of differing diameters, mounting a particular accessory to an endoscope can be problematic if their diameters are not compatible. Fourth, the control mechanisms for operating the accessory must extend through existing working channels in the endoscope interfering with or prohibiting introduction of additional accessories or instruments through the endoscope during the procedure. Also, the accessory controls may be awkward to mount and operate in conjunction with the endoscope as the endoscope was not originally designed to accommodate such additional controls.
It would be advantageous to provide an endoscope and operative treatment accessory that are designed to operate together to avoid the problems mentioned above encountered with separate devices. It is an object of the present invention to provide an integrated endoscope and treatment accessory in a single structure that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art devices mentioned above.